Boundless Fundraising TM Social:

National Kidney Foundation Pilot Program

Project Description

Early in April, Charity Dynamics soft-launched its new product offering, Boundless Fundraising TM Social: Social, for NKF’s Kidney Walk event program. The goal of the pilot was to observe how event participants interacted with different aspects of the new platform and measure the impact of Boundless Fundraising TM Social: Social (with its integrated Social platform, cross channel reach with Linked-In, Twitter, Facebook and email and native emailing) versus the legacy product offering, Boundless FundraisingFacebook.

Event Website Portfolio

Approach

Nested within Kidney Walk’s existing participant center, Boundless Fundraising TM Social was equipped with a number of new features designed to empower participants to easily leverage multiple social channels and more effectively guide them into becoming fundraisers for National Kidney Foundation. Not only would participants be able to more easily ask for support through enhanced messaging across multiple social channels including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and email, but they were also provided with a guided fundraising approach with templated content or messages per channel to guide users from the first ask all the way to their “thank you” messages.

The content and messages were specifically sequenced and sent, aligned to the dates of NKF’s events and program planning (messages were sent to participants days before an event date – users would opt-in to message and we would send out on their behalf).

Sample Set

In order to accurately evaluate performance, the National Kidney Foundation formed two event groups – one to utilize the new Boundless Fundraising TM Social platform, and the other, the control group, to utilize Boundless Fundraising Facebook app. Each event group would consist of 10 randomly selected events. In addition, during the pilot program the Boundless Fundraising TM Social platform would be equipped with a chat feature allowing event participants to provide real-time feedback while utilizing the new platform.

Outcome

After 30 days, the following results were observed by the event organizers:

The event group which utilized the Boundless Fundraising TM Social platform saw 47% more revenue raised versus those events that utilized the legacy Boundless Fundraising Facebook app.

The guiding and coaching approach with content, messaging templates, sequenced messaging and scheduled messaging along with two key features had the biggest impact on bottom-line: 1) Facebook messages sent directly from event participants, and 2) emails that were sent directly from event participants. Additionally, Boundless Fundraising TM Social’s placement within Kidney Walk’s TeamRaiser Participant Center had a dramatic effect on participant adoption and messaging usage.

The #1 request reported by event participants (via chat) was the desire to use text messaging to encourage friends and family to support their cause. (This feature to be available in July!)

As a result of the pilot program, the National Kidney Foundation is rolling out Boundless Fundraising Social for the remainder of its Kidney Walk events this summer.

“As a longtime Boundless Fundraising TM client and proud early adopter, we are very excited about the potential of having a fully integrated social solution within the confines of our Kidney Walk participant center. Not only will Boundless Fundraising TM Social help to keep our fundraisers on our website, but it will also help them reach new donors through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Texting.”